Friday, January 15, 2016

Dreaming of Books Giveaway Hop



I am very excited to be apart of this blog hop. I have been thinking all week about what to offer for the giveaway. And I have decided to give a choice from some of the great books I read in 2015. So What books have you been dreaming about reading lately?



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Giveaway: The Winner may choose one book from the list above. All books will come straight to you via Amazon unless you choose Perfect Flaw it will come straight from me signed. 


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 Giveaway is open to US addresses only at this time.

Thanks to Bookhounds for hosting. 

Don't Forget to Continue on to the other great hop stops. :)




































Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Being Medusa: And Other Things That Suck (Volume 1) By A. Lynn Powers


From Being Medusa:
Things that suck about being Me(dusa):
1. I have to wear these stupid glasses all the time.
2. My sisters hate me.
3. The only person who talks to me regularly is the school disciplinarian.
4. My classmate Thea has made it her mission in life to destroy me.
5. Every day, another bad rumor about me spreads around school.
6. I got hit by a car, and now the guy who hit me won’t leave me alone.
7. Oh, yeah, most importantly... I have snakes growing out of my head!
Nothing in my life is ever normal.


Author:
A. Lynn Powers writes young adult fiction of all genres. She is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, but she currently resides in the suburbs of Tokyo, Japan. She enjoys making useless lists, collecting cute socks, and entertaining preschool children. She can often be found sitting in a restaurant while drinking her weight in tea and soda, tripping over her own feet, unsuccessfully navigating the subway systems of Tokyo, or butchering the Japanese language.  

My Thoughts:  To be honest I totally picked this book to read because I love the cover but I was also intrigued about a modern retelling of a Medusa story. There are tons of retellings of Snow White, Cinderella, even Little Red Riding Hood but Medusa not so often.  Powers has a great voice and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. First off I love books with lists, I love making lists and reading lists so the fact that every chapter started with a list was awesome. This book was funny, witty, smart and Powers has created characters that I loved. While this book was funny it also made some very good points. It touched on some very relevant issues like physical appearance, discrimination, tolerance and  more.  And she handled them beautifully. Medusa is a person that I can totally root for. Wonderful story. Highly recommend. I am looking forward to Volume 2.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
 
Links:
Amazon  
Goodreads 
Twitter 
Facebooks 

I recieved this ebook through the lending library at Juniper Grove Book Solutions for my honest review. 
http://junipergrovebooksolutions.com/review-library/ 

Friday, January 1, 2016

2015 Reading Challenge



Last year I stumbled upon the PopSugar reading Challenge and set out to conquer it. Well I read a lot but missed a few on this list. I have already downloaded the 2016 reading challenge list and can not wait to get started on that. If you are curious what I did get read, here is the list from the 2015 Challenge.



A book with more than 500 Pages – e2 –Matt Beaumont
A Classic Romance – Northanger Abbey – Jane Austin
A book that became a movie – A Magic bed-knob - Mary Norton
A book published this year – My old Kentucky Road Trip – Cameron Ludwick & Blair Thomas Hess
A book with a number in the title – 43 Old Cemetery road: Dying to meet you- Kate Kline
A book written by someone under 30 – Scott Pilgrim’s precious little life – Brian Lee O’Malley
A book with non-human Characters – The Show must go on – Kate Kline
A funny book- Family Guy Big Book o’ crap – Matt Fleckenstein
A book by a female author – 43 Old Cemetery Road: Till death do us bark  - Kate Kline
A mystery or Thriller – Letters from Camp – Kate Kline
A book with a one-word title – Daybreak- Brian Ralph
A Book of Short Stories – Haunting Holidays Twelve Months of KY Ghost Stories – Roberta Simpson Brown  
A book set in a different country – The Abominable Snowman: A Short Story from Dragons at Crumbling Castle  by Terry Pratchett 
A non-fiction book -  A Star Wars Craft Book – Bonnie Burton
A popular author’s first book – Carrie – Stephen King
A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet – Hollywood Dead ahead – Kate Kline
A book a friend recommended – Through the woods – Emily Carroll
A Pulitzer Prize winning book – Founding Fathers 
A book based on a true story – Lies in the Dust: A Tale of Remorse from the Salem Witch Trials – Jakob Crane
A book at the bottom of your to-read list – Sisters - Raina Telgemeier
A book your mom loves-
A books that scares you –  Horrorstor – Grady Hendrix
A book more than 100 years old – The Pit and The Pendulum – Edger Allen poe
A book based entirely on its cover –  In Real Life – Cory Doctorow/Jen Wang
A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit –  Smile-
Raina Telgemeier
A book that came out the year you were born –  Oh Say can you say – Dr Suess
A book with bad reviews –  The Cage – Martin Vaughn-James
A trilogy –
A book from your childhood –  Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter
A book with a love triangle –
A book set in the future – The moon Moth – Jack Vance
A book set in high school –  Swallow me Whole – Nate Powell
A book with a color in the title –Blue Spirit (A Tipsy Fairy Tale Book 1)-


A book that made you cry –  El Deafo – Cece Bell
A book with magic – Pixu – Mark of Evil – Gabriel Ba
A Graphic Novel –  Buffy Season 8: The Long Way Home
A book by an author you’ve never read before – Rollergirl  - Victoria Jamieson
A book you own but have never read – A phantom of the post office – Kate Kline
A book that takes place in your hometown – Lawrenceburg – William Bryant
A book that originally written in a different language –
A book set during Christmas –How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Dr Seuss
A book written by an author with your same initials –
A play –
A banned book – and Tango Makes three – Justin Richardson
A book based on or turned into a TV show – Darkly Dreaming Dexter – Jeff Lindsey
A book you started but never finished –Buffy Season 8: No future for you


Holly and Ivy By Selah Janel and Giveaway


Synopsis: After losing her job and her boyfriend, Holly returns to her parents’ farm. Embarrassed and hopeless, she doesn’t expect to bump into a forgotten childhood friend that wasn’t supposed to exist. Ivy is not only a dryad, but she lives in the pine trees Holly’s family grows to sell at Christmas. As the old friends reconnect, Ivy not only shares her strong opinions, but gives Holly a charm that will change both their lives. As days melt into weeks and the seasons change, Holly’s life magically turns around. Christmas not only brings surprises, but a choice for the human woman. What’s more important: stability, success, and love, or keeping a promise to an old friend?

  • Print Length: 34 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Publisher: Mocha Memoirs Press, LLC (November 30, 2012)
  • Publication Date: November 30, 2012


About the author: Selah Janel has been blessed with a giant imagination since she was little when she wondered if fairies lived in the nearby state park and worried that vampires hid in the old barns outside of town. Her appreciation for a good story was enhanced by a love of reading, the many talented storytellers that surrounded her, and a healthy curiosity for everything. A talent for warping everything she learned didn't hurt, either.

Everything she does feeds the idea machine and she often finds a story in the strangest of places. She gravitates to writing fantasy and horror but will give any genre a chance if the idea is good enough. Her work has appeared in the winter 2012 issue of The MacGuffin, issue three and five of The Realm Beyond, and the back to school issue of Stories for Children Magazine. She has also contributed to multiple anthologies including The Big Bad: an Anthology of Evil, the upcoming Thunder on the Battlefield, and the upcoming Bedtime Stories for Girls.

She has multiple e-books with Mocha Memoirs Press, including Holly and Ivy and The Other Man. Olde School, the first book in The Kingdom City Chronicles is out with Seventh Star Press.


My Thoughts: Janel has a way of making the story flow. I love her transitions and details that she adds to a story. I do not read a lot of short stories because I often feel they are too short and can not give me the in-depth connection and details that I need to be drawn into a story but Janel manages to captive me even in a short story. Janel has created a wonderful read in general and an amazing holiday read too. I think that the holidays can be a wonderful and terrible time for many but Janel points out that it takes strength to not let the world stop you from believing in the magic. Holly and Ivy are two amazing characters and Ivy shows up when Holly needed her most. Ivy reminds her of the simplistic magic of the trees and childhood and the Donnie of Wahlberg. Sometimes you have to go back to the beginning to find the magic. Janel has created a story that is bright, clever, magical and revealing. It made me remember that the best magic is the magic we make for ourselves.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 

Links:
Selah Janel's Website
Selah Janel's Amazon Page
Holly and Ivy on Amazon 
Holly and Ivy - Barnes and Noble
http://mochamemoirspress.com/


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